Scope and Contents:
This collection contains the court financial ledger from Wilson & William Law in Rock Island, Illinois. The ledger includes brief descriptions of court cases in Rock Island with details such as the plaintiffs, defendants, and expenses throughout the case.
The ledger documents 115 court cases spanning from 1842 to 1849. Most of the cases were grievances over outstanding debts for goods and services. The court typically settled the amount of damages and selected the date the decided sum was due. A bill was also issued, listing what was owed to the court for various expenses throughout the case. Such expenses included a constable, justices, summary, execution, transcript, and notary fees.
The ledger also contains 12 execution slips dating from 1846 to 1849, which detail the date the case was resolved and the monetary amount owed.
The Library purchased the collection in the spring of 2016. It was acquired with printed ephemera purchased for the Van Norman, Clarendon, Jr., Collection of Lincoln and Illinois Ephemera (MS 852).